Foot-rail and tonneau truck attachment for passenger-cars.



E. J. BALMOS.

FOOT RAIL AND TONN EAU TRUCK ATTACHMENT FOR PASSENGER CARS. APPLICATIONFILED AUG.3. 1917- 1,268,81 1 S Patented June 11, 1 918.

Witnesses by W 1;

Attorney nnwnnn J. BALMOS, or nnvmn, TEXAS.

FOOT-RAIL AND TONNEA'U' TRUCK ATTACHMENT FOR PASSENGER-CARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 11, 1918.

Application filed August 3, 1917. Serial No. 184,293.

To all whom, it may concern: i 1

Be it known that I, EDWARD J. BALMOS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Devine, in the county of Medina and State of Texas,-haveinvented a new and useful Foot- Rail and Tonneau Truck Attachment. forPassenger-Cars, of which the following is a specification. I

This invention relates to an attachment for use within the tonneau of apassenger automobile, one of the objects of the invention being toprovide a foot rest which ican be utilized as a support for one endportion of a supplemental platform employed in the back portion of thetonneau when the vehicle is tobe used-fordelivery purposes.

Another object is to provide an attachment of this character which, whennot in use, is compact and does not take up any more room than anordinary foot rest.

A further object is to provide an attachment which is cheap tomanufacture and which can be set up readily for use.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will appear as thedescription proceeds the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of the parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed can bemade within the scopeof what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention hasbeen shown.

In said drawings Figure 1 is a view partly in elevation and partly insection of the rear portion of an automobile having the presentimprovements combined therewith.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the foot rest attachment extended foruse as a platform support.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the foot rest attachment collapsed for useas a foot rest.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates aportion of the tonueau of a passenger automobile, the rear seat thereofbeing indicated at 2.

The attachment constituting the present invention includes asupplemental platform and a support for the platform. In Figs. 2 and 3the support has been shown in detail. Said support includes two baseplates 3 adapted to be fastened to the floor of the tonneau close to andback of the front seat,

an opening 12.

signed to receive the lower ends of brace each of these plates beingprovided, at its front end, with upwardly extending ears 4: and betweenthe ears on eachplate is eX- tended the lower end portion of a rod 5which is pivotally attached to the cars. This rod telescopes into atubular member 6 having series of apertures 7 and any one of theapertures is adapted to receive a pin 8 provided, at one end, with aneye 9 to which a light chainv 10 or other flexible device may beattached, thus to prevent loss of the pin when not in use.

Y The rear end of each of the plates 3 is upturned as at 11 and formedwithin each base and close to the upturned portion is These openings arederods 13. The upper ends of the rods are forked as at 14 and areadapted to straddle the upper portions of the tubular members 6 as shownparticularly in Fig. 2. The members 6 are connected by a cross rod 15which can be made of pipe if preferred. Bolt-s 16 may be extendedthrough this rod and are employed for fastening onto the rod the frontportion of a supplemental platform 17. This platform is so proportionedthat, when it is in position, it will rest snugly on the seat 2 and willextend not only from side to side of the tonneau but from the back ofthe seat 2 to the back of the front seat.

Under ordinary conditions the platform 15 is laid away and the braces 13are lifted out of the openings 12 and then swung laterally about thetubular member 6. Said tubular member is then released by withdrawingthe pins 7 and will slide downwardly on the rods 5. The rod 15 can thenbe swung downwardly so as to rest on the base plate 3 close to and uponthe upturned portions 11 thereof. With the parts thus lo cated, and asshown in Fig. 3, the structure can be used as an efiicien-t foot rest.When it is desired to use the attachment for the purpose of holding theplatform 17 in place, the tubular members 6 are moved longitudinallyalong the rods 5 and are then fastened by the pins 7. The rod 15 is thenelevated after which the braces 13 are swung laterally until their lowerends can be seated in the openings 12. The platform 17 is then placed onthe seat 2 and forward portion of the platform is attached to the rod 15by means of the bolt 16.

It will be apparent that the device hereand 1 adapted to rest normallyon the plates and to extendclose to said upturned ends, a crossconnection between the extensible elements and normally constituting afoot rest, and-a bracemountedto swing upon each-oxtensible.element andshii'table to engage the adjacent base plate close to the upturned end,thereby to support the foot rest outof normal and in elevated position.

2. An attachment of the class described including bases, extensibletelescopic elements pivotally connected thereto and adapted to restthereon, each oflsaid bases having an aperture therein, a cross connectionbetween the extensible element and const tutinga ,foot rest, and abrace movably holding the extensible element against the longitudinaladjustment, a platform member, and means for detachably securing saidplatform member to the cross connection.

A11 attachment oft-he class described i'i'icluding a foot rest,extensible supports therefor, means forholding the foot rest out of itsnormalposition. andupon its extended supports, a platform nemher, andmeans for detachably securing the platform member to the extended footrest.

In testimony that lclaim the foregoing as-my own, I havehereto affixedmy 'signajture'in-the presence of twowvitness'es.

EDWARD J. BALMOS. lvitntsses:

FIIENRY Lonslsnne, QI-IAS. W. ZIMMERMAN.

tO opias of this patent may be obtained ifor five cents each,byadqressinggtheiffiflommissioner of Patents,

Washingtonmm. i i

